In an earlier post, I made a reference to a mysterious Mrs S. "Who," you asked, "is Mrs S?" She is another Navy Wife - she lives in an apartment near the hotel where I am staying, only about ten minutes away. She and I met in a morning kickboxing class at the gym, and she came over to our hotel room after class for an oatmeal-and-dried-fruit breakfast.
Somehow, we realized that we both share a passion for good food.
She is a vegetarian, a voracious reader, and a vigorous believer in organic produce. Ah! An oasis of cold, non-GMO water in a desert of Midwestern McDonalds and Walmart towns. She is a reviewer for the Sacramento and San Francisco book reviews, and has already shared with me a stack of delicious books and recipes.
When I found out she had her own oven, I immediately suggested she invite me over to bake bread - I'd give her a cut, of course; as a serf, it was only fair that I pay my taxes! She saw the wisdom of my generous offer (ha!) and said sagely, "There's something to be said for sharing an oven!"
The next day, I was at her house with pans of bread dough ready to bake. Since then, she and I have had several festive baking affairs; most recently, we made some pies on a stormy morning.
 |
| Mrs S made a lattice-top cherry pie, I made a cast-iron skillet Dutch apple pie, and she made two pans of rustic hoe-cake! |
Fortunately, I have yet to meet any strangers here in Illinois.
Cooking and now baking happily,
Mrs H
twitter.com/_mrs_h
Hotel Room Potato Gnocchi
Dress this up as much as you like by adding chopped cooked vegetables, meats, and herbs.
2 to 2-1/2 lbs potatoes
1 - 2 cups flour
1 egg
Sauce (alfredo, marinara, four-cheese, etc)
Peel (if desired), quarter, and boil the potatoes. Mash or rice them until they are perfectly smooth. Mix in one egg, and then begin pouring in flour and kneading with a spoon and then by hand, until it takes on the consistency of a very thick dough. (I used a mixture of white, whole wheat, and cornmeal - you could use any flour.) Try not to knead the dough to death, or it will be a bit tough.
 |
| I kept mixing, while Mrs S kept pouring flour over the mound! |
Roll pieces into slender logs and chop into short, 1/2 inch stubs.
Drop the pieces into a pot of boiling water; as they float to the top, skim them out and drain in a colander. Place in a mixing bowl and add sauce a little at a time to keep from sticking together. (You could rinse them in cold water, too, but we did not do this.)
 |
| Mrs S set them carefully in the hot water so she would not be splattered! |
Serve piping hot! I dashed some Louisiana Hot Sauce
on mine ;) |
| This rich dinner of gnocchi, hoe-cake, and pie was so filling, we were all feeling lazy and happy afterwards! |
